Page 44 of Grave Danger

“You had to be there by the twenty-second because Farid had an all-day business meeting scheduled for the twenty-third of July. Isn’t that right?”

“Farid had a meeting. I don’t know if it was all day.”

“You knew about that meeting before you left Tehran, did you not, Ms. Bazzi?”

“I may have.”

“Ms. Bazzi, isn’t it true that Farid’s business meeting was the primary purpose of the trip to London?”

“He was thinking about reviving his hotel business in the UK. So, yes, business was the reason for the trip. But it was also to see if I liked London. My sister Ava loved it there, and Farid wanted to make sure I did too.”

“That was very thoughtful of him,” said Beech.

“Or controlling,” said Jack, rising.

“Mr. Swyteck, if that was an objection, it is overruled. I would advise both of you to keep your opinions to yourselves.”

The lawyers apologized.

“Ms. Bazzi,” Beech continued, “you don’t dispute that Farid left the hotel early on the morning of July twenty-third for that business meeting, do you?”

“That’s my recollection.”

“Isn’t it a fact, ma’am, that as soon as he left, you took Yasmin from your hotel in Kensington, got in a taxi, and returned to Heathrow Airport?”

She glanced in Jack’s direction, but he couldn’t change the facts. “Maybe not right after Farid left. But yes, we went back to Heathrow that same morning.”

“You didn’t tell Farid you and Yasmin were going back to the airport, did you, Ms. Bazzi.”

“I didn’t tell him. No.”

“In fact, you kept it all a secret from him, didn’t you?”

“Like I said, I didn’t tell him.”

“You knew that the only place you could take Yasmin without your husband’s permission was back to Iran, didn’t you, Ms. Bazzi?”

“I believe so.”

“You more than ‘believed’ it, Ms. Bazzi. You came up with a plan to get around those travel restrictions.”

“Objection, argumentative,” said Jack.

“I’ll rephrase,” said Beech. “When you and Yasmin reached Heathrow Airport, you presented an affidavit to the customs agents, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“That affidavit purported to grant Farid’s written permission for you to travel alone with Yasmin, correct?”

She paused, but she had to answer. “That’s true.”

“You told the customs agent that the signature on that affidavit belonged to Farid, didn’t you?”

“I don’t recall. I don’t think he ever asked.”

“Let’s be candid with the court, Ms. Bazzi: the signature on that affidavit was forged, was it not?”

“It was not Farid’s signature.”